Known for being both a popular beach and an opulent centre of affluence in the city,[3] it is located close to the central business district on Wellington Harbour.

It has the closest beach to the central city and is thus a popular destination for locals, who swarm here especially in the warmer months (December to March).

[3][4] Painted ladies and other historic houses, such as those in distinctly Wellingtonian streamline moderne style, are prominent alongside and up into the hills that face the bay.

Situated against the northern slope of Mount Victoria, the suburb lies 1.5 kilometres (0.93 miles) southeast of the city centre, at the start of a coastal route which continues around into Evans Bay.

Originally described as a remote "dreary-looking spot" of rocks lying between cliffs and the sea used primarily for quarantining foreigners,[5] it has undergone considerable changes since the early stages of European settlement.

[8] The area was originally farm land and was used as a quarantine station with a nurse and tent on the beach,[7] and by whalers, which resulted in a pungent odour from the boiled whale blubber.

[7] David Wilkinson from Ayrshire, Scotland, was an early Wellington resident and gardener who lived at Grass Street, Oriental Bay in a house named Roseneath Cottage.

[17] The first public baths at Oriental Bay was an open-air saltwater pool opened in 1864[18][19] where the Clyde Quay boat harbour is now.

Settlement of the area increased in the 1880s and residents and landowners began petitioning Wellington Harbour Board and Wellington City Council, asking that the bay not be used for industrial purposes such as ship repairs, that the road be improved and a promenade built, and that the bay should be kept clean of all the refuse and dead animals that swept up along the waterfront.

[24][25][26] Public amenities developed further in the early 1900s included public transport, improvements to Te Aro baths, road improvements, construction of the promenade, installation of the band rotunda, opening of a tea kiosk, and planting of trees.

In 1911, Wellington City Council began building a sea wall along Oriental Bay from the Te Aro Baths to Point Jerningham.

[36] Construction of the sea wall decreased the size of the rocky beach, and there were calls for sand to be brought in to enlarge and improve the area.

[37][38][39] A big boost to the beach came during World War 2, when ships from England brought sand as ballast which was then dumped at Oriental Bay.

A grassed picnic area was enlarged, sand was brought in to extend the beach, and a pier, toilet block and multi-level sea platform were built.

[59][60] The Round the Bays fun run has taken place since the 1970s and is the third-largest mass-participation event in New Zealand.

St Gerard's is a brick church and monastery built on a promontory (Fitzgerald Point) overlooking Oriental Bay.

The band rotunda in the middle of the beach at Oriental Bay is listed as a Historic Place Category 2 by Heritage New Zealand.

[69] It was built in 1936 to replace an earlier wooden band rotunda that stood on a concrete platform on the site.

The Moderne-style concrete building opened on 1 May 1937 as a one-storey pavilion with changing rooms for swimmers and an open-air viewing platform on top.

The original level was put into use for community meeting rooms and public toilets, and a new storey was built on top.

[76] In December 2024 the council announced that the building would be restored and redeveloped as a restaurant and bar on the top floor, with a day spa and bathhouse beneath it.

The engines and other parts were removed and after refurbishment the tug was renamed Tapuhi II and moved to Oriental Bay where it opened as a restaurant and function centre in February 1992.

The business was initially known as Tugboat on the Bay, and later Skippers Seafood Restaurant, then Boat Cafe.